What's motivating Donald Trump's Colorado supporters

Supporters of the GOP front-runner seek a shake-up of political status quo

The four neighboring Lakewood couples gathered for dinner and watched the Republican presidential debates for months, rotating as hosts and favoring various candidates until December, when a show of hands revealed the group tipped toward Donald Trump.

"As we learned, as we discussed, things took a direction," recalls Charles Patricoff, a 63-year-old retired aerospace worker. "It wasn't anybody getting up and making persuasive speeches. After the debate parties were over, we just talked as friends and neighbors and things went in that direction — almost a natural evolution."

For Patricoff and his watch-party neighbors, as well as Trump supporters across Colorado, the connection to the billionaire businessman only solidified in the months that followed, despite increasing broadside attacks on Trump from the GOP establishment.

"It feels like an ambush," Patricoff says. "In fact, it's basically confirming the things I suspected about their true colors all along, that maintaining power to them is more important than the will of the Republican electorate."

The tumult surrounding the Republican nomination, recently marked by violence at Trump rallies, takes center stage again Tuesday, when five states and one territory will award delegates, with winner-take-all primaries in Florida and Ohio.

In Colorado, where Republican Party leaders decided not to hold a statewide straw poll for president at the March 1 caucus, Trump's level of support is difficult to gauge.

But recent interviews with more than a dozen Trump backers, from rural Blanca to metro Denver, showcase a deep level of support among a broad cross section of voters.

A political newcomer feels energized by the candidate's bold talk and outsider image, echoing a Vietnam veteran who forgives the candidate's outlandish statements and inexperience.

A blue-collar salesman worries about jobs being taken by immigrants or disappearing overseas, while a wealthy developer, raised by a single mother on welfare, backs Trump unconditionally — even as a third-party candidate.

"I feel like this is a chance for the American people to be heroes," says Dave Forenza, the 43-year-old Vail Valley developer and investor. "Because we really have the power to push back and fight this front that the establishment is trying to put up."

United by the divide

If anything unites Trump's fans in Colorado, it's a desire to upset the status quo.

Within the GOP, leaders — including former standard-bearer Mitt Romney — have condemned the front-runner's campaign and even suggested his nomination would threaten the party's future. Outside critics label Trump as racist, sexist and worse.

But supporters, while sometimes bothered by the candidate's heated rhetoric, either dismiss it as partisan jousting or accept it as part and parcel of a man whose policy stands are worth the trade-off.

Forenza, a native New Yorker, has been a lifelong Republican thanks to the influence of his mother, an immigrant from Italy who couldn't vote but campaigned door-to-door for her favorite candidates. She raised eight children with the help of food stamps and subsidized housing. He remembers shoveling snow to help buy eggs and milk.

Now a successful investor, Forenza says he supported the Republican nominees in 2008 and 2012 only to become disillusioned with the party and national politics.

"They are all wearing the same clothes when they are in there, Republican or Democrat," he says. "At the end of the day, it's all about what are we going to do for each other."

He sees Trump as different.

"Now," he says, "we have someone looking out for us."

Sunny Davis voted for Democrat George McGovern in the 1972 presidential election, but now the 66-year-old Pueblo West resident's politics trend conservative. She talks about Trump as a chosen one who will upend Washington — not unlike how some Democrats refer to Bernie Sanders.

"We could see it happening, the corruption, but didn't know what to do," says Davis, a former assistant to a community college president. "We were kind of waiting for the right person. And finally, Trump came. My husband and I can't remember an election when we didn't vote for the lesser of two evils. Finally, we have someone who is standing up for the people instead of the establishment."

The Trump opposition from party leaders, she says, proves that he's leading a revolution.

"They say we're angry," Davis continues. "Yeah, we want to take our country back. That makes us even more angry and solidifies the fact that what we're saying about the establishment is true — they'll do anything so Trump doesn't get in there. The more they push, the more we push back."

Galvanized by a different approach

Inside a classroom at Northglenn High School on caucus night, Laura Frank's hand shot toward the ceiling when the organizer asked for delegates. Her energy belied her inexperience as a first-time caucus-goer. But she wanted to represent Trump at the county convention.

"I just feel like it's time for those of us who haven't really taken responsibility to be involved," the 50-year-old human resources manager says.

Why Trump? "I just feel like he's been the most bold," says Frank. "The other guys are politicians and I feel like politicians are what has gotten us in the mess we are in. I think it's going to take somebody who thinks outside the box, and Donald Trump does that."

Frank aligns with Trump on the issues, but it's his style and approach that galvanize her interest.

"I don't know that Trump is the be-all and end-all, but I think because he is a businessman he knows how to surround himself with people who do know how to make things change," she says.

Likewise, other supporters acknowledge that Trump is not the perfect candidate.

Frank Naro, a Vietnam veteran who flies the American and POW-MIA flags every day at his home in tiny Blanca, is sometimes dismayed at Trump's over-the-top rhetoric. But he sees him as someone willing to reclaim America's standing in the world.

"Trump's got a lot of homework to do, no two ways about it," the 68-year-old says. "But I hope he doesn't put up with anybody's bull. I hope he tells China where to go, tells Mexico where to go."

Naro took issue when Trump dismissed criticism from Sen. John McCain, who endured torture as a prisoner in Vietnam, by saying he liked soldiers "who weren't captured."

"If I'd been in front of Trump, I would've said, 'Hey, you weren't there. It's bull,' " Naro says, before striking a more forgiving tone. "So he's put his foot in his mouth quite a few times, says some stupid things. But he's also said a lot of things the American people have been wanting to hear."

Jobs, immigration and ISIS

In between delivery stops in Erie, salesman Gordon Callaway pauses to outline why he favors Trump.

Raised a Democrat, Callaway, 56, says he voted for Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. He once believed Hillary Clinton would be a good candidate because the economy was robust during her husband's tenure in the White House. Now, he adds, he is better educated on key issues like the economy and immigration.

"If (Trump) only does one thing as president, if he gets ... the trade agreements redone and we get our companies back in America, that alone would create enough jobs and opportunity for people," says Callaway, who also backs the candidate's plan for a wall along the Mexican border.

For Patricoff and his neighbors, the issues of immigration, national security and economics helped lead them to back Trump.

But he tempered his support in recent days and expressed disappointment in Trump's reaction to violent behavior at campaign rallies. Still, he ultimately puts the blame at the feet of the individuals involved — not the candidate.

"I wish he had more of a filter; I wish he'd speak more presidentially," Patricoff said. "But these folks acting out of whatever emotion is driving them, they're responsible for their own behavior."

The former college instructor, who taught history and political science, sees the current upheaval surrounding Trump, coupled with Sanders' populist appeal on the Democratic side, hinting at a sea-change in American politics.

"We can look back and pinpoint certain events when something changed," Patricoff says. "The problem that people have, unless they're really paying attention, is that when they're in the midst of a happening, they don't know that something's happening."

John Frank: 303-954-2409, jfrank@denverpost.com or @ByJohnFrank

Charles and Mary Patricoff are pictured with their Yorkipoo Lily at their home on March 10, 2016 in Lakewood, Colorado. Mary supports Republican candidate Donald Trump for president and Charles says he hasn't quite made up his mind yet but is leaning towards Trump. The couple has participated in friendly debate-watching parties at their home with neighbors. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

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